Parker blocks West Coast hydro proposal

Aug. 28 (BusinessDesk) - A 20-megawatt hydro scheme
on the West Coast has been blocked by Environment Minister
David Parker due to its impact on the pristine and
outstanding nature of the Morgan Gorge.

The $100 million
development, proposed by Greymouth-based Westpower, had the
support of the Department of Conservation, which spent more
than two years working with the company on its
proposal.

In September 2016 the department recommended the
granting of a 49-year concession, leases and easements for
the development which would draw water from above the Morgan
Gorge in the Waitaha River, through a 1.5-kilometre tunnel,
into a power station and back into the river
downstream.

But Parker, who inherited the issue in
February 2018 after Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage
declared a conflict of interest, rejected the plan. While he
believed most of the impacts on plant and wildlife in the
area could be managed, he considered the gorge itself and
its wild nature to be an outstanding natural feature.

“I
do not believe modifying the flow is appropriate, even if it
were possible to move the location of the inlet structure to
below the entrance of Morgan Gorge,” he said in the
18-page decision.

“On my assessment, there are no
adequate or reasonable methods for remedying, avoiding or
mitigating the adverse effects of the activity on the
natural character of the environment or the associated
adverse effects on the intrinsic value of the area and on
the appreciation and recreational enjoyment of the area by
the public.”

Westpower believed the run-of-river scheme
could deliver about 120 GWh of power annually – enough to
meet almost a quarter of the region’s demand. The
proposal, along with the 7.6 MW Amethyst hydro plant the
company commissioned on DoC land at Hari Hari in 2013, was
developed to improve security of supply in southern
Westland, particularly in the event of a transmission
failure into the region.

Backers included Te Runanga o
Ngati Waewae and Te Runanga o Makaawhio. The West Coast Tai
Poutini Conservation Board also had no objection to the
scheme.

But the project was the subject of a concerted
campaign by the kayaking community and other environmental
groups, including Sage’s Green Party. They argued there
was no justification for additional power generation on the
West Coast and that the Morgan Gorge warranted special
protection from development, even though only expert
kayakers can use it in its natural state.

Westpower
chairman Mike Newcombe said the company is “utterly
stunned” by the rejection.

“We put up a proposal that
ticks all the boxes: renewable, sustainable energy,
long-term regional economic development boost, careful
environmental stewardship – and yet it was declined. It is
an alarming decision not just for the coast but for regional
New Zealand,” he said in a statement.

“We will be
carefully reviewing the detail of the decision,” he said.
“It makes no sense – not least because of the
government’s stated intention to be 100 percent renewable
in energy by 2035 - 15 years - and its commitment to climate
change.”

In return for the concession, Westpower would
have paid DoC a market fee set at 6 percent of gross revenue
annually. The company had also undertaken to shut the
intakes so that kayaking events could still be held in the
gorge on a set number of days annually.

Last year, it
attempted to mitigate some of the recreational impact of the
proposal by offering $250,000 to the local Tai Poutini
Polytechnic to be used in a trust promoting kayaking on the
West Coast.

Parker said his decision is not inconsistent
with the concession granted for the Amethyst project, which
is also on DoC stewardship land.

The main difference in
that case, he said, was that the Amethyst River cannot be
used for kayaking and isn’t routinely used for
tramping.

Parker noted that he is barred under the
Conservation Act from considering the economic benefits the
region might have gained from increased security of power
supply, or from the long-term returns from the asset to the
community-owned network company.

But were it otherwise
“my decision would not be different,” he said.

He said
many parts of the country are substantially reliant on
transmission from one source and do not have sufficient
local generation in the event of a transmission
failure.

Contact BusinessDesk

“It is our intention that the clarity that will come from the outcome of these proceedings will enable the Crown to work with Southern Response to provide a soundly based proactive solution to those people that are affected.” More>>

Classifying on-demand video content will be made mandatory to bring it in line with other media and provide better guidance and protections to families and young people, says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. More>>

Inland Revenue and the Accident Compensation Corporation are calling ‘time’ on cheques. From March next year, IR and ACC will no longer accept payments by cheque from customers who are able to use alternative payment options. More>>

ALSO:

Broader participation by New Zealanders, greater access to growth capital for New Zealand enterprises, and more choices for investors drive the recommendations in the Capital Markets 2029 report released today. More>>

Wallabies could spread over a third of New Zealand within the next 50 years, unless control is increased dramatically, says Forest & Bird central North Island regional manager Rebecca Stirnemann. More>>